SERVICEMEN from the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited (GT&T) visited Middle Road, La Penitence; Georgetown yesterday to replace insulated copper cables after repeat thefts over the weekend had left the street and surrounding areas without phone and Internet services. GT&T has been plagued by the problem of persistent theft of its cable, despite several reports being made to the Guyana Police Force and despite internal action.
Fingers have been pointed at the local scrap metal industry, which places a high premium on copper as an export commodity.
Cable thieves go to extraordinary lengths to attain this wire, including climbing telephone poles. In this case, the thieves accessed the wire by climbing a tree, which the company trimmed as part of its remedial action on Monday.
Efforts yesterday to obtain an official comment from GT&T on this latest case were all unsuccessful.